Hi Ken, The oldest dance I do is Trenchmore – goes back to at least 1551. See http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/Trenchmore.html Great if your dancers like to Strip the Willow. Horse’s Branle (1589) is great fun too - https://www.webfeet.org/eceilidh/dances/horses-branle.html I can call these type of dances for nearly any group in England as we don’t have the genre divides that you do in America. When I have called in the USA I have often thrown in different formations and the dancers seem to have enjoyed it. It all depends on what your dancers expect and how much they are prepared to experiment. There are lots of great contra dance style dances in other formations – see http://contrafusion.co.uk/Formations.html The 17th and 18th century English dances (e.g. Playford and those who followed) were also known as contra dances and even occasionally had First Couples Improper, e.g. The King of Poland (1698): “First Man on his Woman’s fide” (side). You may well be able to find some early dances that would go down well with a contra crowd. Just change some of the Turns into Swings – yes they did Swings in those days. From the pre-1650 Lovelace Manuscript: “Trenchmore: every man shall turne his mayde as long as he please, on way, and then backe agayine, the other way; then all men and woemen turne round as before as fast as they can” – sounds like a Swing to me! The earliest dances in Cracking Chestnuts are Money Musk (1785) and The Young Widow (1788) – George Washington’s time! Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent

HI Ken, You said, "I'm intrigued and appreciative also when I see well-represented period social dancing in movies and TV shows. The specific example in mind is in Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightley iteration) which actually seemed to spend enough time in a wide frame to actually discern the entire dance." Sadly, they didn't dance anything like that in that period. The dances shown in the movies are generally from a hundred years earlier - it's like showing people doing the Charleston at a disco! Also the stepping in the figures was three chassees, jete, assemble (in modern terms something like three polka steps and a jump). "Sir Thomas, having seen her walk rather than dance down the shortening set, breathless, and with her hand at her side, gave his orders for her sitting down entirely." If you would like to know what they really danced in that period have a look at https://www.kickery.com/2009/11/what-did-jane-austen-dance.html Money Musk would be a suitable dance! Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent -----Original Message----- From: Ken Panton via Contra Callers <contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> Sent: 11 March 2024 18:05 To: contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net Subject: [Callers] Re: Chestnuts John Sweeney wrote: Thanks. John, for those references. I'm untrigued and appreciative also when I see well-represented period social dancing in movies and TV shows. The specific example in mind is in Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightley iteration) which actually seemed to spend enough time in a wide frame to actually discern the entire dance. Maybe there are other similar examples. Cheers Ken Panton _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net